See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/263672932

Assessment of Water Footprint— A Case Study for Kerala

Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, India

Conference Paper · February 2014

CITATIONS READS

0 1,147

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Special Issue "Frontier Research: Waste Management for Sustainable Development" (Impact Factor 3.889) View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Bindhya k on 29 September 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 International Symposium on
534 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM–2014)
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM–2014)
February 19–21, 2014, CWRDM, Kozhikode, Kerala, India

Assessment of Water Footprint—

A Case Study for Kerala Government
Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, India
1 2 3
Bindhya Mol K , Dinesan V P and Harikumar P S
Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
E-mail: 1bindhyaenvis@gmail.com; 2dvp@cwrdm.org; 3psh@cwrdm.org

ABSTRACT: Water Footprint, an indicator of freshwater use that accounts both the direct
and indirect water use of a consumer or producer, which gives spatiotemporally explicit
information regarding how water is appropriated for various human proposes. It can
feed the discussion about sustainable and equitable water use, allocation, and also form
a good basis for a local assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts. The
salient findings of the investigation on the assessment of the Water Footprint of Kerala
Government Secretariat, the seat of Administration of the Government of Kerala by using
online extended Water Footprint Calculator of Water Footprint Network is presented in
this paper.
Keywords: Water Footprint, Water Balance, Thiruvananthapuram, India.

INTRODUCTION
Increasing population, food production and energy consumption in the world, over the past
decades, have changed the land use and global hydrological cycles. Freshwater is an important
and vital resource to ecological and human life. Due to the climate change and the likelihood
of a changing water cycle has already led to periods of “drought and deluge”. Water is already
scarce in many parts of the world, and a changing water cycle could further constrain the water
supplies. Water Footprint is the volume of water utilized by an individual, office, community,
product, industry, State, or a country per unit time. It includes the direct water utilization (e.g.,
from a tap) and indirect utilization (e.g., used to produce the food, the products, the energy
consumed and even the water saved by reuse and recycle). Water Footprint depends on the life
style, food and consumption pattern. The virtual water makes up the majority of the Water
Footprint (Huijuan Dong, 2013). Water Footprint accounts give spatiotemporally explicit
information regarding how water is appropriated for various human purposes. It can feed the
discussion about sustainable and equitable water use and allocation and also form a good
basis for a local assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts (Hoekstra, 2008).
Water Footprints helps to reveal the amount of water being used at an individual level all the
way to a national level and in the numerous processes involved in manufacturing and
production of our goods and services. An accurate Water Footprint also takes into account the
amount of water contaminated during manufacturing and production because that water is
Assessment of Water Footprint—A Case Study for Kerala Government Secretariat… 535

essentially made unusable and, therefore, taken out of the system. While there can never be a
perfect water use assessment or audit tool, the Water Footprint gives everyone – from individual
consumers to business managers to public officials – a solid water accounting framework and
aids us all in our efforts to be more efficient and conservative with our water use. In this context, a
study has been carried out to assess the Water Footprint of Kerala Government Secretariat at
Thiruvananthapuram.

STUDY AREA
The Kerala Government Secretariat Campus, located at Thiruvananthapuram, constitutes the
study area. Thiruvananthapuram is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of
the mainland and is located at 8.5°N latitude and 76.9°E longitude. The Kerala Government
Secretariat is the seat of Administration of the Government of Kerala, housing important
Ministries and Bureaucratic Offices. The Government Secretariat Campus including Annex is
spread out in 7.27 Acres. The Kerala Secretariat building is over 140 years old. Secretariat
Complex consists of three blocks. The Central Block is the oldest structure. Apart from the
Central Block, two new blocks were constructed on either side of the Central Block. The North
Sandwich Block, located at North Gate, houses Office of Kerala Chief Minister, Offices of few
Cabinet Ministers and Cabinet Rooms. The South Sandwich Block houses primarily offices
Government Secretarie, though a few offices of Ministers are located here due to congestion in
North Block. Secretariat Annex, located north-west side of the main campus, houses offices
of few Cabinet Ministers, Government Secretaries, due to congestion in the main campus.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Business Water Footprint accounting technique is used to assess the Water Footprint of Kerala
Government Secretariat. In broad terms, a business is conceived here as a coherent entity
producing goods and/or services that are applied to consumers or other businesses. The Water
Footprint of a business unit is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used directly or
indirectly to run and support that business unit expressed in terms of volume of fresh water
use per year. It consists of two main components. The operational (or direct) Water Footprint of
a business is the volume of freshwater consumed or polluted due to the business’s own
operations. The supply chain (or indirect) Water Footprint of a business is the volume of
freshwater consumed or polluted to produce all the goods and services that form the inputs of
production of the business. The Water Footprint of a business unit (WFbus, volume/time) is
calculated by adding the operational Water Footprint of the business unit and its supply-chain
Water Footprint (Gerbens-Leenes and Hoekstra, 2008).
WF bus = WF bus,oper + WF bus,sup [volume/time]
After the distinction between operational and supply chain Water Footprint, one can differentiate
between the Water Footprint that can be immediately associated with the product(s) produced
by the businesses and the ‘Overhead Water Footprint’. The latter is defined as the Water
Footprint pertaining to the general activities for running a business and to the general goods
and services consumed by the business. The ‘Overhead Water Footprint’ is the water consumption
that is necessary for the continued functioning of the business but that does not directly relate
to the production of one particular product (Hoekstra, et al., 2011). The operational overhead
536 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM–2014)

Water Footprint is the water consumption and pollution related to general water-using
activities in the Secretariat. This can be identified and quantified just like the operational
Water Footprint directly associated with it. To calculate the operational Water Footprint per
business unit (per year) it distinguishes three components: the Green, Blue and Grey Water
Footprint.
WF bus,oper = WFoper,green + WFoper,blue + WFoper,grey
Green Water Footprint is particularly relevant for agricultural and forestry products, where it
refers to the total rain water, evapotranspiration plus the water incorporated into the harvested
crop or wood. So, in the present study there is no use in Green Water Footprint. Data on Blue
Water use have to be derived from statistics collected by the business units concerned, i.e.
from the Government Secretariat itself. Data on Grey water production have to be calculated
from measurements of concentrations of chemicals in the waste flows that are disposed into
the natural system at the specific unit and local ambient water quality standards.
The supply chain Water Footprint per business unit (volume/time) can be calculated by
multiplying the various input-product volumes (data available from the business itself) by
their respective product Water Footprints (data that have to be obtained from suppliers). For
most businesses, the Water Footprint in their supply chain is much bigger than the Water
Footprint of their own operation. Suppose, there are different input products i originating
from different sources x, the supply-chain Water Footprint of a business unit is calculated as:

In which, WFbus, sup represents the supply-chain Water Footprint of the business unit
(volume/time), WFprod[x,i] the water footprint of input product i from source x (volume/unit
of product) and I[x,i] the volume of input product i from source x into the business unit (product
units/time).
The supply chain Water Footprint of the Kerala Government Secretariat is assessed based on
the four main factors such as; Water Footprint of the Employees, Water Footprint of the Paper,
Paper Boards etc, Water Footprint of the Energy and Water Footprint of the Food items used in
the Canteen and Indian Coffee House. The Supply Chain or Indirect Water Footprint is calculated
by multiplying all products consumed by respective Water Footprint.
Government Secretariat is a largest paper consumptive administrative sector of Kerala. Major
works of Secretariat and its communication activities are mainly focused on paper works.
According to Van Oel and Hoekstra (2012), Water Footprint of printing and writing paper in
India is 1246 m3/t, news print paper is 1019 m3/t and paper board is 1168 m3/t.
The information on the extent and pattern of water supply in Government Secretariat Complex
and its source were collected from Kerala Water Authority. The information on the extent and
pattern of power supply in Government Secretariat Complex were collected from Kerala State
Electricity Board. The hydro-meteorological data pertaining to the study area were collected
from the Indian Meteorological Department. The details of water outlet points/water fixtures
and their status in the Secretariat Campus were collected/documented through direct observation.
The existing drainage channels and drainage outlets were also identified and documented. Water
Assessment of Water Footprint—A Case Study for Kerala Government Secretariat… 537

samples were collected from various water supply inlet points as well as various wastewater
outlet points for the analysis water quality in the Laboratory. A social survey with the aid of
questionnaires were conducted in the Secretariat Complex during the first week of January
2013 to determine the building wise employees, visitors volume, direct and indirect water usage of
employees and visitors. The data generated through hundred percentage questionnaires survey
were used to determine the total number of employees, total number of visitors, various water
distribution fixtures and their working status in each building and food materials used in
canteen and Indian coffee house, etc. Different type of questionnaires were used for the survey for
assessing building wise direct water consumption, building wise virtual water usage, water
use for landscape, canteen wise direct water use, canteen wise virtual water use, and individual
water footprint calculations. The primary data generated from the Secretariat Campus pertaining
to the study and the secondary data collected from the various agencies/organizations were
analyzed for the assessment of Water Footprint for Kerala Government Secretariat at
Thiruvananthapuram.
The individual/employee Water Footprint was calculated by using online extended Water
Footprint calculator of Water Footprint Network. Amount of food consumption is one of the
important input data for the Water Footprint calculation. For avoiding the difficulties of data
collection regarding quantity food consumption, NSSO report on Household Consumption of
various Goods and Services in India is used as the data source. Water Footprints of individual
items were collected from products gallery of Water Footprint Network.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The study area falls in the tropical humid climatic region, where monsoon is the predominant
climatic factor. The annual normal rainfall of the study region is about 1800 mm. The south-
west monsoon, during June to September contributes about 47.8%, north-east monsoon, during
October–November contributes about 26% and December to May contributes about 26.2% of
the annual rainfall. About 73.8% of the annual rainfall receives during the six month period
from June to November. The Secretariat Campus is part of the drainage area of Karamana
river. Karamana river is perennial, but the summer flow is very low. The rain water falling in
the Secretariat Campus drains very fast into Karamana river and to the sea.
Apart from the employees working in the Secretariat, large number of bureaucrats and local
people are visited every day in this organization for their various administrative needs. The field
survey conducted in the Government Secretariat campus indicated that the total population (daily)
of the Secretariat is found to be 10658, which includes 5143 employees and 5515 visitors. The
field survey on water fixtures for meeting the water needs of employees and the visitors, reveals
that the whole Secretariat campus have 33 water filters, 412 wash basins, 232 taps, 219 closets and
74 urinals. The Secretariat campus has 14 common latrines for gents and 5 for ladies. The two
storied Central block has the maximum number of fixtures; 113 wash basins, 31 taps, 49 closets
and 15 urinals.
At the rate of 45 litres per capita per day (as per WHO/BIS Standards for office buildings, which
includes drinking, face/hand washing, toilet flushing, mopping, utensil washing fire fighting,
etc.) the daily water requirement of Secretariat buildings is estimated as 427,485 litres. The water
requirement for Indian Coffee House and Canteen for cooking and washing, etc., is estimated as
43,080 litres and 77,850 litres respectively. Secretariat campus has about 3019 m2 lawn and
538 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM–2014)

512 plant pots in and around the Secretariat building. The average daily water requirement for
the lawns and pots is about 16,887 litres and 1,792 litres respectively. The gross daily water
requirement of Kerala Government Secretariat campus on working days is estimated as 467,130
litres. The field survey reveals that even during the holidays about 150 employees including
security staff are attending duties in the Secretariat Campus. Hence, the gross water requirement
during the holiday days is estimated as 6,750 litres. Accordingly, the monthly water requirement
of the Secretariat Campus is about 140,13,925 litres (14013.9 m3). Hence, the gross annual water
requirement of the Secretariat Campus for various purposes is estimated as 1681,67,100 litres
(168,167.1 m3/year).
The average monthly water supply to the Secretariat Campus by KWA by drawing water from
Aruvikkara Reservoir through 12 water connections at various locations is about 3,898.5kilo
litres. Apart for KWA supply, two dug wells located in the Secretariat campus (in front of the
Main Block and near the Annex Block) are being used for garden/lawn irrigation. The rain water
harvesting tank of capacity about 6,782 litres is another source of water in the Secretariat, mainly
for garden irrigation. The annual water supply of the dug wells and the rainwater harvesting
system is estimated as 28,00,000 litres and 72,000 litres respectively. The gross annual water
supply to Government Secretariat Campus from various sources is estimated as 496,54,000
litres (49,654 KL). Hence, the estimated average daily water supply is about 137928 litres. The
Sankey Diagram showing the daily water utilization for various purposes in Kerala Government
Secretariat Campus is shown in Figure 1.
The water balance study reveals that Government Secretariat Campus shows an annual water
deficit of 118,513.1 KL (Table 1). The daily water supply deficit estimated is about 324,693.4
litres (325 KL). It shows that the current water supply is only 30% of the actual water requirement
as per WHO/BIS Standards. Hence, water supply has to be enhanced. Major quantity of daily
water requirement (49%) is for flushing. Hence, the water supply deficit will very badly affect
the water usage in the toilets. Due to the water supply deficit, many times tanker lorry water
supply is being utilized in Canteen and Indian Coffee House to meet their daily water require-
ments.

Fig. 1: Sankey Diagram of Water Utilization in Government Secretariat

Assessment of Water Footprint—A Case Study for Kerala Government Secretariat… 539

Table 1: Water Balance Scenario of Government Secretariat (Annual Basis)

Quantity
Sl
Description Cubic Remarks
No Liters
Meters
1. Annual Water Requirement 1681,67,100 168,167.1
Employees, Visitors, Indian Coffee House,
Canteen, Landscape, etc.
2. Annual Water Supply 4965,40,00 49,654.0
KWA, Dug Well, Rain Water Harvesting, etc.
3. Water Balance Scenario –1185,13,100 –1,18,513.1 Deficit
Annual Surplus or Deficit Condition

The analysis of the water sample collected from the Kerala Water Authority water supply at
canteen (tap water) indicated that all the quality parameters are found to be within the permissible
limit of Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). The analysis of the groundwater sample collected
from the dug well at the Main Block indicated that, the dug well water is bacteriologically
contaminated with coliform bacteria and all other quality parameters are within the permissible
limit prescribed by BIS.
The grey water discharge in Government Secretariat estimated based on the water supply is
about 68.72 cubic metre/day. The analytical results reveals that, pH of the wastewater sample
collected from ‘wash basin outlet’ of Indian Coffee House and drainage outlet of Canteen is
acidic in nature. Concentration of Oil and Grease, Total Suspended Solids, BOD and COD are
found to be above the permissible limit in all samples when compared with and CPCB Standards
for discharge of effluent into inland surface water. Total Coliform and E.Coli are found in
‘wastewater outlet to the drainage channel’. Wastewater generated during various purposes such
as washing of meat, fish, vegetables, utensils and other cleaning purposes of Canteen were
released to the drainage channel. The amount of dissolved oxygen was absent in this sample.
The value of COD and BOD are also found to be very high in this sample. Concentrations of
pollutants were comparatively less in the ‘sample collected from the wastewater outlet behind the
South Sandwich Block’ when compared with other two samples because it comprises mainly
wastewater generated during cleaning and washing.
Various water sources used to meet the operational Water Footprint are KWA supply, well
water and harvested rain water. In which KWA supply is the major water source of the secretariat,
it provided 46782 m3/year. Total operational water use of Government Secretariat is about
49,654 m3/year.
The questionnaire survey conducted in Government Secretariat revealed that about 16% of the
respondents are vegetarians and the rest non vegetarians. Water Footprint of non vegetarians is
much higher than the vegetarians. The total Water Footprint of Staffs and Visitors of Secretariat is
estimated as 13,11,998 m3/year.
According to the Store and Purchase Department, an average of 1100 ream/month (52.8 ton/year)
of paper is supplied to the various departments of Secretariat for writing, photo copying/printing,
type writing etc. Approximately, 130 registers/month are used in the Secretariat. About 20
newspapers/day is circulated to 19 Minister’s offices in the Secretariat Campus. Government
540 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM–2014)

calendar is provided to all the staff of Secretariat in every year. It is printed in good quality paper.
Total Water Footprint of paper used in Secretariat is estimated as 67,744 m3/year, which, includes
65,788.8 m3/year for printing and writing paper, 467.8m3/year for registers, 527.54 m3/year for
news papers and 960.6 m3/year for calendars.
The average electricity consumption of the Government Secretariat is about 3,15,260 units/month.
Hydro power is the major energy source of Government Secretariat. According to Water
Footprint network, Global average Water Footprint of hydropower is 22 m3/GJ. Another source
of energy used in the Secretariat is the natural gas in the Canteen and Indian Coffee House. In a
normal working day, about 3 and 2.5 cylinders (19.4 kg) of natural gas are used in canteen and
Indian Coffee House respectively. Total of 106.7 kg or 5.739 GJ of natural gas are used in the
Secretariat. Global average Water Footprint of natural gas estimated by Water Footprint
Network is about 0.11m3/GJ. The average working days in the Secretariat are about 280 days.
Total Water Footprint of energy used in the secretariat is estimated as 3172.96 m3/year, which
includes 2996.2 m3/year for hydro power and 176.76 m3/year for natural gas.
Canteen and Indian Coffee House are the two food providing units of the Government Secretariat.
These are the places, where the maximum number of people visited every day. The total virtual
Water Footprint of the Canteen and Indian Coffee House is estimated by multiplying Water
Footprint of each product with the quantity of the products consumed. Water footprint of the
food items used in the Canteen and Indian Coffee House is estimated as 16,23,835L/day. Canteen
and Indian Coffee House is operated during the working days (about 280 days/year).
Accordingly, the total supply chain Water Footprint of Canteen and Indian Coffee House is
estimated as 4,54,673.8 m3/year.

Table 2: Water Footprint of Kerala Government Secretariat

Sl. No. Category Water Footprint, m3/year
1. Operational Water Footprint KWA Supply 46,782.0
Rain Water Harvested 72.0
Well Water 2,800.0
Sub Total 49,654.0
2. Supply Chain Water Footprint Staffs/Visitors 131,19,998.0
Paper and Paper Products 67,744.7
Energy 3,173.0
Food items 4,54,673.8
Sub Total 136,45,589.5
Total 136,95,243.5

The overall Water Footprint of Government Secretariat is calculated by summing up of both

the operational and supply chain Water Footprints. Accordingly, the overall Water Footprint of
Government Secretariat is estimated at 136,95,243.5 m3/year (Table 2) and the per capita Water
Footprint of Government Secretariat is estimated at 1475.41 m3/year (Verma, et al., 2008).
The per capita Water Footprint of Government Secretariat is found to be 50% higher than the
national level (980 m3/cap/year).
Assessment of Water Footprint—A Case Study for Kerala Government Secretariat… 541

Water Footprint of Government Secretariat can be reduced by shifting the consumption pattern
that require less water; by reduce the wastage of water through the replacement of single flush
cisterns with dual flush cisterns, in both men and women’s toilets; by minimize the water usage
by proper opening and closing of the taps; by saving water through fixing of water efficient
fixtures in the toilets, office yard and canteen kitchen; by increase the water use efficiency by
reducing the wastage, reuse and recycle the waste water, appropriately, by the replacement of
the older, high-flow water outlets with high-efficiency fixtures that meet current UPC and IPC
requirements; by controlling the leakage, etc. The grey water discharge in Government Secretariat
is estimated based on the water supply is about 66.21 cubic metre/day. It is recommended to
establish a Rotating Biological Contactor (RBC) of 80 KL capacity gray water treatment plant
near to the Canteen Block. About 45% of the daily water requirement can be met through grey
water treatment. About 20 KL of the regenerated ‘Gray water’ can be utilized for landscaping and
the rest can be utilized for toilet flushing, waste plate washing, etc. Separate water supply
system has to be provided for this. So that, a zero water discharge can be achieved in Government
Secretariat Campus. By introducing the Micro irrigation techniques such as drip/sprinkler
irrigation, etc, can increase the water use efficiency in landscaping. The utilization of the water
potential of the Secretariat Campus can reduce the water import; thereby reduce the Water
Footprint of the current water supply source. The study shows that the scope for further
groundwater development from the Secretariat campus is very minimal. Due to the unique landuse
characteristics of the Secretariat Campus, the scope of harvesting the whole surface water
generated from the Secretariat Campus is also very limited. However, there is scope for
establishing three more rainwater harvesting tanks of capacity 100 KL, one near to the Indian
Coffee House, second one near to the Canteen Block and third one in the Annex Block. Annually
about 3600 KL of rainwater can be harvested through this system and it can be utilized in
Indian Coffee House, Canteen and Garden irrigation at Annex Block.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Business Water Footprint accounting technique has been used to assess the Water Footprint
of Kerala Government Secretariat. The study reveals that the overall Water Footprint of
Government Secretariat is about 136,95,243.5 m3/year. The estimated per capita Water
Footprint of Government Secretariat is 1475.41 m3/year, which is about 50% higher than the
national level (980 m3/cap/year). Compared to all nations, the Water Footprint of USA is much
higher, 2,483 m3/cap/year, where as the Global average is about 1,243 m3/cap/year (only 50% of
USA). In order to reduce the overall Water Footprint of Government Secretariat it is
recommended to reduce the water import by maximise the utilization of the Campus water
potential; by shifting to the consumption pattern of material use/foods, which requires less
water; and by increasing the water use efficiency by reduce the wastage, reuse and recycle the
waste water, etc.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The results presented here is a part of a research project carried out in CWRDM with the financial
support of Energy Management Centre (EMC), Govt. of Kerala. The Secretary, General
Administration (House Keeping Cell (A) Department), were provided necessary support for
carrying out the field data collection from the Secretariat Campus. Dr. N B Narasimha Prasad,
 542 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM–2014)

Executive Director i/c, CWRDM has provided the technical support for the study. The
secondary data required for the study was spared by Kerala Water Authority (KWA), State
Groundwater Department, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), State Water Resources
Department, etc. All these are duly acknowledged. Bindhya Mol K, gratefully acknowledge the
financial support from Department of Environment and Climate Change, Thiruvananthapuarm,
Kerala for undertaking research work in CWRDM.

REFERENCES
APHA (1985). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. American Public Health
Association, Washington, pp. 1268.
Bureau of Indian Standards Institution (1991). Indian Standards specifications for drinking water.
Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2004). ‘Water footprints of nations, Volume 1: Main Report’, Value of
Water Research Series No. 16, UNESCO-IHE.
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2008). Business water footprint accounting: A tool to assess how
production of goods and services impacts on freshwater resources worldwide. Value of Water Research
Report Series No. 27. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. Netherlands.
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2008). Water Neutral: Reducing and Offsetting the Impacts of Water Footprints. Value of Water
Research Report Series No. 28. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
Hoekstra, A.Y., Chapagain, A.K., Aldaya, M.M. and Mekonnen, M.M (2011). The Water Footprint Assessment
Manual. Water Footprint Network, Earthscan, Washington DC.
Huijuan, Dong; Yong, Geng; Joseph, Sarkis; Tsuyoshi, Fujita; Tomohiro, Okadera and Bing, Xue (2013).
Regional water footprint evaluation in China: A case of Liaoning Science of the Total Environment 442
(2013), 215–224, www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv
Van Oel, P.R. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010). The green and blue water footprint of paper products: Methodological
considerations and quantification. Value of water research report series no. 46. UNESCO-IHE Institute
for Water Education, Netherlands.
Verma, S., Kampman, D.A., Van der Zaag, P. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2008). A critical analysis of virtual water
trade in the context of India’s National River Linking Programme. Value of water research report series
no. 31. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. Netherlands.
WHO (1984). Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, Health Criteria and Other Supporting Information,
World Health Organization, Geneva, Vol. 2, 335p.

View publication stats